


Strangers Across a Crowded Room

by RachaelGold



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: F/M, Short and totally plotless fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-25
Updated: 2018-04-25
Packaged: 2019-04-27 20:07:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14433126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RachaelGold/pseuds/RachaelGold
Summary: A crowded bar, a half empty dance floor, and Kathryn is tempted to find comfort in the arms of an attractive stranger. Will she finally decide to move on? What will Chakotay have to say about this?Setting: 6 months Post-Endgame





	Strangers Across a Crowded Room

He’d have known her anywhere. The flash of reddish hair, the strong jawline, the porcelain complexion, the blue grey eyes, the air of confidence…he caught a glimpse of all this as the crowd parted momentarily. Her features were very familiar from all the news-vids. This was the famous ex-Captain of the Starship Voyager! The very one who had gotten her ship and crew lost in the Delta Quadrant for seven years, and brought them home again in triumph. This was one very attractive woman. Just his type. He’d heard that she’d be here. That’s why he’d come. He had every intention of chatting her up, maybe, if his luck held, of asking her out. 

He crossed the dance floor, where a few hardy people had abandoned all sense of restraint and started dancing to the insistent rhythm of the music. Then he pushed his way through the forest of people near the bar. This was no mean feat; the place was heaving with people. It seemed that just about the entire populace of this far flung space station had decided to spend their off duty hours in this backwater dive. Coming up beside her at the bar, he introduced himself and offered to buy her a drink. 

She turned to the handsome stranger, and ran her eyes appreciatively, yet warily over his features. He had the bearing and manner of a Starfleet Officer, but not one she’d come across walking the corridors of HQ during the weeks since they’d reached earth. She hesitated momentarily…she had been hurt too many times before…but he had an attractive genial face with dark honest eyes, so she accepted his offer with a smile and asked for a glass of Bolian wine. 

"Kathryn Janeway," she offered, holding out her hand. He took it, and squeezed it firmly. 

"I’d never have guessed…considering your face is on just about every other news channel," he laughed. 

She smiled in response. "Believe me, I wish it wasn’t." 

"Have the reporters been hounding you to distraction?" 

"Mmm…let’s just say that the novelty wore off weeks ago. Celebrity is not all it’s cracked up to be. At least here," she said, vaguely gesturing around her with one hand, "I’m just another Starfleet Officer relaxing after a long day at work." 

They were interrupted by the bartender bringing a glass of blue wine and a Terran ale. They lifted their respective drinks and each took and appreciative draught. 

"Thanks." 

"Curious colour!" 

"Ever wondered why just about everything Bolian is blue?" she asked, leaning closer and adopting a tone intended to arouse curiosity. 

"Well no, not really. But now that you mention it, I suppose it’s true." 

"Well, it only seems blue to us. Bolian eyes perceive an entirely different spectrum of colours from the rest of us. When we see blue, they see an amazing range of unimaginable hues." 

"Really? Well that explains their dress sense! How do we look to them?" 

"I believe we all look varying shades of some indescribable colour to them." 

"That’s very interesting," he said, as he lifted his glass again. He studied her lovely face, and thought to himself how much would be lost if her chestnut hair, her dancing blue eyes and her cherry lips all dissolved themselves into shades of some monochromatic mushy grey colour. "I’m glad I’m not Bolian then," he finished. 

"Oh, I’m sure Bolarus IX is full of beautiful sights in their eyes. It’s just the rest of the entire universe that can’t appreciate it." 

"Ever been there?" 

"No, that’s one place I haven’t been." 

"One for the future, then." 

She laughed. "Maybe. If I ever get around to taking any time off." 

"They’re still working you hard?" 

"My choice. I’ve wanted to be busy. It’s been hard…suddenly getting home and no longer being responsible for a ship and crew. It’s like I’ve lost my family. So, crazy as it sounds, I’ve kept myself thoroughly occupied." 

"I can understand that. Haven’t you kept in touch?" 

"Yes, I have. I’ve seen a lot of most of them. I think we’ll always stay close." 

"Ah, yes, now let me see…the _nobody else understands what we’ve been through_ syndrome!" 

"Something like that," she agreed with a smile. 

For a while the conversation drifted from what it had been like to arrive home so suddenly, from the joy, relief and disappointment that had followed, to what both of them were doing at work and at leisure. 

He ordered them each another drink, and eventually steered the conversation back to something he was rather more interested in. 

"No time for romance, then?" 

"No. I haven’t made time. It’s not like I’ve been short of offers though!" 

"I’d noticed. There’s no shortage of speculation in the media." They smiled at each other, silently acknowledging the growing attraction that was sparking between the two of them. "So there’s no-one special then?" he continued. 

"No," she replied with an almost imperceptible shake of the head. "To tell the truth, I’m rather disillusioned with the whole romance thing right now." He looked at her sympathetically, and vowed to himself that he was going to do his level best to change her mind. 

"I’d heard some rumours, though." 

"Oh?" 

"About you and your First Officer." 

"Ah, him!" 

"Yes. Any truth in that?" 

She sighed in resignation. "There is…was…well, could have been. But he blew it big time!" 

"How do you mean?" 

"He went off with somebody else when we got home." He noticed her eyes glaze over as she said this. It had obviously hurt a lot. 

"Seven of Nine?" 

"Yes." 

"Well, he was a damn fool, if you ask me." This brought the smile back to her lips. "Only a complete idiot would let a woman like you slip through his fingers. I’ll bet he bitterly regrets it now." 

"I wouldn’t know. He hasn’t told me." 

"Anyway, I see the relationship didn’t last long. The reporters were falling over themselves to get the story. They must have been mortified to have their relationship picked over so publicly. Apparently, they were a complete mismatch...an unmitigated disaster together. That must be some consolation." 

"I guess." 

"Will you ever forgive him?" 

"I don’t know. Maybe one day…a long time from now!" 

"Well," he said taking the glass from her hand and setting it down on the counter, "I’d say his loss is my gain! It leaves the field wide open. So how about a dance?" 

For a moment she wondered at his audacity, but decided that he was a rather likeable rogue. And she thought, why the hell not? What had she got to lose? It was time to start enjoying life again. Time to move on and put the past behind her. She hadn’t felt this attracted to a man in ages. 

She smiled as she took his hand, and he led her out onto the dance floor. She relaxed into his strong masculine arms. It felt so good to be held like that again. To feel like a woman. To feel the strain of being a stuffy Starfleet Admiral drain away. She had had enough of being everybody’s property but her own, and of being pulled in every direction at once. It was very pleasant to let somebody else take the lead. 

Slowly, they moved in perfect unison to the enchanting music. It felt so good, and it felt so absolutely right. She gave a deep appreciative sigh as she let her head rest dreamily on his shoulder, and her hands felt their way around his back. It brought them delightfully closer. Long dormant sensations of physical attraction welled up within her. Being in the arms of this man was undeniably exciting. 

He responded by drawing her closer, running his hands sensually across her arms and back, enjoying the sensation of holding this desirable and vibrant woman. He nuzzled the top of her head happily. Her silky hair smelt deliciously of some perfume…a hint of peaches perhaps. The evening was most definitely exceeding his expectations. 

The night wore on in delightful companionship, until she announced her intention to leave for her quarters. She had to be at work early the next morning. 

"It’s been a lovely evening. Thank-you." 

"Can I walk you back?" he asked eagerly. 

"Why not?" she replied. "Let me just collect my jacket." She went to the bar and collected the article, before returning to him. "Let’s go!" she said with a grin. 

"Where are you staying?" he asked as the bar doors closed behind them. 

"In the Senior Officers’ section. It’s about a ten minute walk. Come back for some coffee, if you like." 

"I’d like that," he said, slipping an arm around her waist. She didn’t seem to object. The exact opposite in fact. She seemed to be leaning closer in to him, as they walked along the dark dingy corridors of the space station. He looked at her with twinkling eyes, and she pursed her lips in slight defiance at the look of satisfaction on his face. 

"And I do mean coffee!" she said firmly. "I don’t want you to be getting any ideas. I never sleep with anyone on the first date, and I certainly don’t want you thinking I’m an easy lay!" 

"Easy lay?" he said in horror. "Kathryn Janeway, I think you are the most difficult lay in the universe. It’s only taken me seven and half years to get this far!" 

She punched him playfully on the stomach. "Chakotay, just think yourself lucky I haven’t already kneed you in the groin!" 

"And I bet you could do someone a nasty injury with those knees!" he laughed. "But I warn you…I’m well trained in self-defence!" 

"Still, I’d have the element of surprise on my side." 

"Not if you warn your victim beforehand! Really, Kathryn, this is not a very good strategy for disarming your enemy!" 

"So you’re my enemy now, eh?" 

"No, I hope not…not any more anyway! Although it does lend a rather interesting dynamic to our relationship." 

"Yes it does." 

They walked on in silence for a while, enjoying their renewed sense of closeness. Then he swallowed and said, with a faint tremor in his voice, "Thank-you, Kathryn." 

"For what?" 

"Thank-you for giving me the chance to start over. I don’t deserve it." 

"No, you don’t." 

"I really am sorry for the way I treated you. I was such an idiot. You know, I never wanted to hurt you. You’re far too important to me. I was devastated when I found you were avoiding me, and it took me ages to work out why. God, I was such a fool. To think that all these years I’ve wanted you and when the chance finally came, I was…well…" 

"Yes, Chakotay. I know. Apology accepted. Now stop babbling! Can we just forget about what happened when we got home and move on?" 

He heaved a sigh of relief. He’d prepared himself for a major battle over this. "Okay. If that’s what you want." 

"It is." 

They walked on for a few paces in silence. 

"I made the biggest mistake of my life when I let you slip away from me. I want a chance to change that." 

She stopped and smiled reassuringly at him. "The world would be a pretty sad place, if nobody ever had the chance to put right their mistakes." 

"Yes it would," he agreed quietly, as he stared longingly into her eyes. "There’s one mistake I’d like to correct right now!" His gaze dropped to her soft lips, and reflexively she moistened them with her tongue. Did he dare? Was it too soon? 

"What’s that?" came the husky inviting reply. 

"I never did this!" he said, plunging for the lips, and giving himself over to the overwhelming sensation of kissing her hungrily for the first time in his life. She responded with just as much fervour, and they were soon breathless, light-headed and tingling with excitement. As they parted, they laughed together at the pleasure of it all. 

"Wow! I see kissing is allowed on a first date, then." 

"Only if I’m with an attractive man," she grinned. "But I’m rather out of practice. With a bit more…." He didn’t need any more encouragement, and they were soon lost in their second loving embrace. 

They finally made it breathlessly into her quarters, but the intended coffee was completely forgotten. As the heat intensified, they continued their exploration, hands getting increasingly more daring, kisses ever more passionate. The escalating throb of desire drove them onward. He heard her moan softly with pleasure, and the sound thrilled him. Could this really be happening? After all this time? 

He broke it off, and studied her face seriously. There was just a tiny knot of anxiety in his soul that he might be pushing things too far and too quickly. He'd take no risks. This was far too important for that. But her darkened eyes looked up dreamily from under heavy lids, until she met his gaze steadily. He relaxed. There wasn’t the slightest hint of her not reciprocating his feelings. For a long frozen moment, they just stood, eyes locked, finally smiling their love at each other. 

"Spirits," he laughed, "if this is what you do on your first date, whatever do you do on your second?" Her face lit up. 

"Well," she said in a low seductive tone, as her fingers played gently on his chest, "why don’t you go outside now, ring my chime, and come back in to find out!" 

* * *

  


_Title taken from the following song:_  
Some enchanted evening  
You may see a stranger  
Across a crowded room.

Once you have found her never let her go.

Rodgers and Hammerstein  
South Pacific


End file.
